The regular season ends this week, and these two things I know to be true as of today: the Toronto Maple Leafs will not be making the playoffs...again, and the Calgary Flames are all but done as far as making the playoffs go. The Maple Leafs not making the playoffs isn't exactly news, but what is news is that this season was quite possibly the best that the Leafs have had since the lockout. They were eliminated earlier in the week when the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres just simply wouldn't lose. If there is a silver lining in all of this, the Leafs look ready to be contenders for years to come. Now, a lot of that will depend on whether James Reimer is the next Johnny Bower or the next Vesa Toskala. The surest sign that Toronto is on their way up: despite being in striking range for a playoff spot at the trade deadline, they stuck to their plan of gaining assets to build toward the future instead of mortgaging it in favor of a possible one and done this year.
Yesterday's scoreboard watching for the Flames was particularly painful, as the two teams that had to lose, the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks, just simply refused to cooperate. It's not official, but it might as well be, as the Flames only have one game left and all Chicago or Anaheim have to do in their remaining games is to reach overtime once. The Flames will be entering the postseason golfing with many questions to answer, which includes the future of the GM position. They would be wise to add to their farm systems because it's in dire need of fresh blood.
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